Delaware Area Career Center student Siddarth Kunapuli recently earned first place in the Under-16 category of the U2300 Open at the 2026 Pan-American Amateur Chess Championship in Florianópolis, Brazil.
Kunapuli competed in the U2300 Open, the championship’s highest-rated amateur division. While he entered the tournament hoping to finish among the top three overall, earning the top U16 honor gave him even more motivation to continue challenging himself.
“The thing I am most proud about this tournament is the fact that I was able to give everyone I played a good fight, so none of the games were easy,” Kunapuli said. “This proved to me that I am capable of playing at a level for reaching the top three places, and maybe even first place is definitely possible.”
Kunapuli’s interest in chess began when he was 5 years old. After receiving a chess board, his parents learned the game so they could teach and play with him. Seeing other students at his elementary school excel at chess motivated him to improve, and he began competing in tournaments around age 6.
Now, after approximately nine years of competitive chess, Kunapuli practices nearly every day and regularly competes in tournaments throughout Ohio and across the country, along with several international competitions each year.
He is already focused on his next challenge: the 2026 North American Youth Chess Championship in Mexico in November.
His goal is straightforward.
First place.